Dear citizens of Lviv and Odesa,
We are happy to announce that EECMD is launching the Democracy Schools in your cities. Democracy Schools are one of our flagship programs and they work to enhance the capacity for democratic activism in different countries. Currently, Democracy Schools operate in eight different states in our network and our organization has been operating them in Georgia for already six years.
The Democracy Schools for Ukraine will represent the unique training and networking hubs for those citizens who are interested in the issues of democratic governance, democratic politics and anti-corruption. By launching these Schools in October, we hope to positively contribute to further strengthening of Ukraine’s democratic resilience and to the political and policy skills of its high spirited and capable democracy activists.
The curricula of the Schools is divided into four educational modules, each focusing on the important issues of democracy and politics listed below and we are engaging the best Ukrainian and international experts of the field as the trainers in these Schools.
Module 01: Introduction to democratic politics:
- Political culture
- International context
- Political parties and political finance
- Elections and electoral systems
- Human rights and the rule of law
- Contemporary challenges to democracy
Module 02: Governance and politics:
- Constitutional systems
- Parliamentary practice
- Local government and contemporary debate of decentralization
- Civil society and media
Module 03: Anti-corruption toolkit: approaches and methods:
- Defining corruption and main approaches
- Transparency, citizen monitoring and veto players
- Social expectations, institutional reform and international legislation
- Civil society, media and corruption
- Applying anti-corruption concepts to practice
Module 04: Political toolkit: influence, advocacy and public relations:
- Consensus building, collective action
- E-democracy / enhancing participation
- Political parties,
- Social media and social campaigning.
- Countering propaganda and political speculation on corruption
- Public speaking, debating, professional writing skills
- Political fundraising, project management
- Running for office
- Forms of peaceful political influence (advocacy, lobbying), social mobilization.
The schools will bring together 20-25 participants in each city for the duration of five months (two days per week) for an intensive training, capacity building and policy development workshops. On top of the training, the participants will have the opportunities to engage in our programs and events and become the part of a growing international network of the alumni of democracy schools.
The program is free of any charge and will provide all necessary reading and training facilities to its participants. We are looking for motivated civil society activists to apply and take part in our first, inaugural program in Ukraine.
To submit your application, press here.
For general questions, please write: contact@eecmd.org
For Lviv Democracy School related issues, please write to Dr. Petro Kuzyk: pkuzyk@eecmd.org
For Odesa Democracy Schools related questions, please write to Dr. Sergii Glebov: sglebov@eecmd.org